Signal for vehicles.



MAY 20| |916.

Patented Mar. 18, 1912-).

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

3 lflfmvwo z APPLICATION FILED MAY 20 1916.

J. A. GERWER.

SIGNAL FOR VEHICLES.

Patented Mar. 18,1919.

2- SHEETS-SHEET 2.

GMM/wma JGSEPH A2 GERWER, OF

stenen son ventanas.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH vih. Garantire, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residingat Stapleton, in the county of Richmond, State of NewYork, have invented certain 'new 4useful Improvements in Signals toriT-ehi- .isin'that may be applied to an automobile in various positions,as for instance'on the mud guard over .the front or rear wheels or inboth positions so that the signal may be clearly seen by the operatorsot' other vehicles so that those ahead as Well as in rear oi thesignaling machines may clearly discern thev lntentions of the operatoroi' said inachrne. 'The apparatus has special utility in c1t1es ortoiyns wherever' traiiic is congested. In carrylng out the invention,indicator members of any preferred form are nrovlded with means forprojecting said indicators out beyond the side of the car into suc-haposition as to be readily seen fromboth front and back. The projectingmeans 4may be attached to the dash, mud guard or side of the car. eitherforward or at the rear or in both positions, the location beingcontro'lled by the type of vehicle to which the device is to be applied.To be clearly visible at night, the indicator head is provided with anelectric light so positioned as to east its light on both sides oftheindicator to make it plainly observable from either direction.

An object in View is to provide a signal on either side of a car whichindicates to the operator or to a following car that it is unsafe toattempt to pass the forward car on either vone side or the other as thesignal may be displayed. and further if both signais are set, it Will bea signal to the following car that the forward car has right- -o-'Way inbeth directions and will therefore Varnol'nat to a stop signal.yTherefore it Will` 'be'l seen that not only' a direction signal isprovided, but in addition thereto a stop signal, since by thesimultaneous operation of the signals on both sides of the machineblocks passage on both sides and thereby provides a stop' signal.

While slightV modifications 'may 'be resorted to as to the 'minordetails of construetion Without departing from the spirit of theinvention, a preferred form may be seen in the'drawings, in Whichliigure1 is a persective view of the mud guard of an automo ile with no otherparts shown indicating the position of the signals as mounted thereonand showing inY dotted lines the course oi the Wiring from said signalsthrough the storage battery and to the control buttons on the steeringpost.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view .of the Wiring.

Fig.. 3 is an enlarged detail of the signal y showing same in itsextended position in full lines and in its retracted position in dottedlines.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the signal plate or head showing the contaetand brush for making and breaking the circuit to light bulb carried onthe signal head.

Fig. 5 is a detail section on line 5*-5, of Fig. 4. i

Reference now being had to the drawings by numerals in which similarnumerals indicate corresponding parts in-all the figures' of thedrawings, 1#l are the forward mud guards and 2 2 the rear mud guards, 3the storage battery and -i the steering Wheel of any preferred form ofautomobile.

Mounted conspicuously on said mud Aguards at points usually directlyover the center of the Wheel Vor at their highest points -are posts 5`said posts being all of a similar construction with their mounted partsthereon, it will be necessary only to describe in detail one of saidmembers.

Pivotally mounted at 6 on post 5 are the inner members of a series oflazy-tongs 7, said lazy-tong members being provided at their inner endsWith loops or bearing members S and 9. Passing through loops 8 and 9 isa. rod 10, said rod being provided at its lupper end With a nut or othersimilar form of enlargement tio, prevent its passage through loop 8;.Said ro'd 10 is adapted to at its lower end tothe core 12 of a solenoidslide freely through loop '9 and be secured 13 mounted rigidly to post5.

vConductor wires`14. and 15 supply current' from the storage battery, asindicated at 3,

and conductor wires 16 and 17 extending -from the solenoid to the pivotpoint of the lazy-tongs at 6 and from thence through eyelets 18 mountedat the pivotal points of said lazy-tongsvout to binding posts 19 and -20at the' outer ends of the outer lazy-tong :members. Said Aconductorwires 16 and 17 are adapted to be in circuit with the cur- .-.rentsupplied by wires 14 and 15 to the solenoidi such a manner that whenthesolef noid'i's energized to project the signal, the current willextend into wires 16 and 17 out y to posts 19 and 20. f

IThe signal head Aor indicator 21 is prefi eably constructed of sheetmetal and is provided with appropriate lettering, as indicated, and acentrally located opening 22 inl ywhich is mounted anelectric bulb 23mount- '.Qed in the socket 24 rigidly -mou-nted to the plate. The outerpair of lazy-tongs is pivotally mounted at 25 in the inner portion of ythe signal head, one on either side thereof and are provided with postsi9 and 20 havfrom and are provided at their inner ends "'30 `and 31,.

with posts 3 0 and 31. Said contacts 28 and 29. are arranged on an arcwith pivot point 25 afspits center, and brush members 32 and Bdextendingfrom posts 19y and 20 are adaptediwhen the lazytong members are operatedtoco'me in contact with said contacts 28 Iand29 to complete the circuitup to posts M ounted ina preferred manner on post 30 1s a switch member34. Said switch i member 34: may be brought into zcontact 'with a post35 mounted on the signal head 'or swung into contact with post 31.Conductor wires 36 and 37 connect post 35 with v'socket 24 and post 31with said socket 24. The purpose of switch 34- is when that dcvice'is'in use during the' day, the illumination of the bulb23 is notnecessary, there- .'fore 'during day, switch 34- is brought to aposition' in'whlch the current crosses from 'post 30h) 31 and backthrough the return Wire to its' source of supply, thus completing thecircuit for the operation of the solenoid, yetjshuntihgthe lightingbulb.

"To 'return the parts to their folded or retra'cted position, ajspring38 mounted lat one v4end` to the lazy-tongs at one oi their:4

crossing points, as indicated at 39, and at their outer end at 40 to theindicator,.sa1d

spring when signal is projected being placed.

under tension and.. being so mounted that when the current is cut ofi',Said spring will collapse the lazy-tong members to the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 3.

It will be noted by reference to'Fig. 3 that post 5 is provided with aStop memberV 41 in such a position that when one of the members of theinner pair of toggle lcvers is .swung to the posltion shown, said stopwill form an abutment against which said lever Will rest and establishthe necessary position of thev `parts when signal is projected. It willbe noted that when the solenoid is denergized and the core 12 is allowedto rise, the tension of the spring 38 will bring the lazy-tongs into acollapsed or folded position and at the same time parts will swing onpivot 6 down to the position shown in dotted lines. When the parts are.folded, it will be noted that bar 10 assumes a horizontal position, saidhorizontal position being permitted by the members 8 and 9 swinging intothe proper position to permit said movement of bar 10.

By reference to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that make and breakcontacts, as shown at42 and 4.3, are provided on'opposite sides of thesteering post in circuit with signals on corresponding sides of theautomobile and the required wiring to energize thev signaling mechanismson one side of the car or the other may be controlled either separatelyor simultaneously if desired.

The operation of the device is as follows: It it is the intention of theoperator of a machine on which the improved signal is applied to round.a corner to the right, the signals, as shown in Fig. 1, are set bypressure on the switch 42 which completes the circuit through thesolenoids 13 mounted on the right-hand side of the machine, the firstmovement of' thel parts being to draw the core 12 down, said lmv'erne'ntswinging the inner toggle levers into a position in Which one of saidmembers comes in contact with stop l1. In this position, said member isarrested in its movement and the further movement of the core draws rod10 down through loop 9 mounted on said toggle member and the furthermovement of core 12 brings the other member of the rst pair oflazy-tongmembers into the position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, to

project the signal.

When the signal is projected, it will be,

perfectly clear that the contactson the signal head will be establishedand thek circuits completed either out through'thelamp or across frompost 30 to 31 and' back through post 2O according to the position switch34 is in, thereby establishing the necessary completed circuit foroperating the solenoid. When the current is cut off,

.spring 38 will collapse the parts and they will assume the positionshown in dotted lines.

Havingr fully described my invention, what I claim is A signalingapparatus for vehicles, coinprising a plurality of independentlyoperable elements` consisting of Sets of lazytongs mounted at the sidesof the car, indicators mounted on the lazy-tongs, electric lampscentrally located on the indicators, contact members mounted on theindicators,

conductor wires connecting the contacts and the lamps, conductor Wirescarried on the lazy-tongs 1n communication with the source of electricalenergy, brush contact members JOSEPH A. GERWER.

In the presence of C. W. SCHUTzENDonr,

JOHN B. CUNNELL.

